Those impacted by flood should have wells tested

Health Department has Tdap vaccine for flood victims

Published: Saturday, May 4, 2013 5:00 a.m. CDT

The Grundy County Health Department would like to encourage people that get their water from a private or semi-private water well to have their water tested if the well became submerged during or following the heavy rain and flooding.

In order to help make this accessible to as many people that were impacted by the flooding as possible, the Health Department is able to provide water sample bottles as well as instruction on how to collect the sample, and will cover the cost of having the water sample tested for coliform and nitrates.

If you think your well was, or may have been, impacted by flood waters, you should consider the well contaminated until you can have the water tested. During that time, you should not consume your well’s water, use if for food preparation or even brush your teeth with it.

According to recommendations from the Illinois Department of Public Health, you should boil the water vigorously for at least for 5 minutes. If you cannot boil it, you can add 8 drops of plain, unscented household bleach to a gallon of water, mix it and allow it to stand for 30 minutes. This method should only be used for water that is clean in appearance and free of odor.

For additional information about water well testing, please contact the Grundy County Health Department, Environmental Health Division at (815) 941-3115.

For additional information on how to avoid illness and hazards due to flooding, good information can be found on the Illinois Department of Public Health’s web-site at http://www.idph.state.il.us/floodinfo/index.htm.

Tdap Vaccine

The Grundy County Health Depart-ment has been able to obtain free Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, accellular pertussis) vaccine for those people exposed to flood waters who meet the following criteria:

• Those who sustain puncture wounds or wounds that may be contaminated with soil or fecal material if their most recent tetanus containing vaccine (Tdap, Td, Dtap) was more than 5 years ago.

• Persons who sustain, clean, minor wounds should receive tetanus-containing vaccine if they have not completed a primary series or if more than 10 years has elapsed since their last tetanus booster.

Exposure to flood water alone is not a reason to give tetanus-containing vaccine or any other vaccine.
Those persons with severe wounds should be evaluated immediately by a healthcare provider.

For more information or to make an appointment please contact the nursing division at (815) 941-3419.
The Illinois Department of Public Health recommends that adults routinely receive a tetanus booster every 10 years. For information or to schedule an appointment, call (815) 941-3419. Medicaid will cover the cost of this vaccine.

A limited supply of vaccine is available to people who have no insurance or who cannot afford to pay. The cost of the Tdap vaccine is $55. The cost of the Td (tetanus) vaccine is $40. You can also find information about adult and childhood immunizations on our web site: www.grundyhealth.com or on the Illinois Department of Public Health web site: www.idph.state.il.us under “I” – immunizations.

For more information on the Grundy County Health Department, visit our web site at www.grundyhealth.com.